In Svenhard’s Swedish Bakery v. United States Bakery, Bk. No. 19-15277, 2023 WL 5541420 (9th Cir. Aug. 29, 2023), the Ninth Circuit held that a settlement agreement that resolved an employer’s withdrawal liability to a...more
The recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”) requires new disclosures for brokers and other consultants providing services to certain group health plans. Under the CAA, “covered service providers”...more
2/11/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Brokers ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Retirement Plan
Editor’s Overview -
Of course, on the top of everyone’s minds these days is COVID-19. In this edition of Proskauer’s ERISA Newsletter, our colleagues discuss some of the legislation and guidance that has been issued over...more
Editor's Overview -
Happy New Year. We wrap-up 2019 with an article that reflects on significant developments in ERISA litigation during 2019, and takes a look at what's on the horizon for 2020. The courts (at all levels)...more
1/17/2020
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
American Arbitration Association ,
Arbitration ,
Article III ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Practices ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Individual Mandate ,
Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma ,
IRS ,
Loss Causation ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Pleading Standards ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Thole v U.S. Bank ,
Venue
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a withdrawal liability decision of which both multiemployer pension plans and their contributing employers should be aware. Specifically, in National Retirement Fund v. Metz...more
Beginning January 1, 2020, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) will: (i) reduce filing fees charged to parties initiating arbitrations of withdrawal liability disputes; (ii) change how costs of arbitrations are...more
12/13/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
American Arbitration Association ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitrator Selection Disputes ,
Arbitrators ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Filing Fees ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
PBGC ,
Pensions ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Taft-Hartley Plan Trustees ,
Withdrawal Liability
In this edition of our Newsletter, we take a look at a pair of cases that, while unrelated, together remind us of the importance of having clear plan rules in place that reflect the plan sponsor’s intention. The first article...more
10/11/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Withdrawal Liability
On February 6, 2019, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ("PBGC") issued a proposed rule that impacts how multiemployer pension plans in endangered or critical status calculate withdrawal liability. The rule is not yet...more
Despite the change in seasons, there appears to be no change in the pace of complex and class action ERISA litigation. Investments in defined contribution plans—both 401(k) and 403(b) plans—continue to be the leading target...more
4/11/2018
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Bi-Partison Balanced Budget Act (BBA) ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRS ,
Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) ,
Mutual Funds ,
National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) ,
Retirement Plan ,
Self-Dealing ,
Standing
For a multiemployer pension fund to hold an asset purchaser liable for withdrawal liability as a successor-in-interest, the fund must establish that the purchaser was (i) on notice of the seller’s withdrawal liability, and...more
In this benefits law edition of The Proskauer Brief, senior counsel Anthony Cacace and partner Robert Projansky discuss how severance plans can be subject to ERISA. We will discuss the key advantages of having severance pay...more
In light of the recent decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Sun Capital, private investment funds, multiemployer pension funds and the...more
10/26/2017
/ Controlled Groups ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Joint and Several Liability ,
Limited Partnership Agreements ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
PBGC ,
Pensions ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Sun Capital Partners ,
Withdrawal Liability
Editor’s Overview -
In this issue of Proskauer's ERISA Litigation Newsletter, we review a recent ruling by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the application of controlled group principles to the building...more
6/1/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Arbitrators ,
COBRA ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Construction Industry ,
Controlled Groups ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Notice Requirements ,
Pensions ,
Popular ,
Summary of Benefits and Coverage ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wage and Hour ,
Withdrawal Liability
On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law an omnibus appropriations bill which included the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the "Act"). In addition to extending or making permanent a number of...more
ERISA plan fiduciaries charged with responsibility for selecting, monitoring or removing plan investment options should pay close attention to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Tibble v. Edison Intl., 135 S. Ct. 1823...more
Editor's Overview -
In this month's newsletter, Anthony Cacace analyzes the heavily anticipated Supreme Court ruling in Tibble v. Edison Intl., 135 S. Ct. 1823 (2015), where the Court held that ERISA's fiduciary duty of...more
6/26/2015
/ 401k ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Determination Letter ,
Due Diligence ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Duty to Monitor ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
IRS ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 409A ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tibble v Edison Int ,
Vesting
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an ERISA plan participant may allege that a plan fiduciary breached the duty of prudence by not properly monitoring the plan’s investment options as long as the alleged breach of the...more
Editor's Overview -
In this month's Newsletter, Robert Rachal discusses recent "church plan" rulings where some federal judges have declined to give deference to long-standing, consistent guidance from the Internal...more
4/24/2015
/ Breach of Duty ,
Churches ,
CIGNA ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Hospitals ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Religious Institutions ,
Standing
The Second Circuit held that the owner of a contributing employer to multiemployer benefit plans breached his fiduciary duties by failing to make required contributions and was thus personally liable for the delinquencies,...more
The Supreme Court cast a ray of sunlight for employers by rejecting the use of a problematic inference in adjudicating claims for retiree benefits brought pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. For many years, the...more
A federal district court in Iowa dismissed a putative class action complaint brought by several 401(k) plan sponsors who alleged that Principal Life Insurance Company breached its fiduciary duties to the plans by charging...more
This month's newsletter focuses on how Plan Trustees can appropriately settle ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims in order to achieve "complete peace." The article provides a check list and discusses strategies for handling...more
Plan trustees often look to settle ERISA fiduciary breach claims brought against them as a way to put the past behind them. Assuming there is enough fiduciary liability insurance coverage available to pay the proposed...more
Editor's Overview -
This month our authors explore two important areas of ERISA's fiduciary duties applicable to single employer and multiemployer plans. First, Neal Schelberg and Aaron Feuer comment on a growing trend...more
This month we discuss the evolving case law on the issue of whether unpaid employer contributions due under a collective bargaining agreement can be viewed as plan assets such that the individuals who decide to withhold such...more